High Education
by new born bliss
Summary: Humanstuck college AU, Dave's first year in college was supposed to be normal and oriented towards his music, but things take an unexpected turn. Dave/Gamzee It's a light almost crack like fanfic so don't expect any deep stuff
1. A Lesson in Philosophy

Alright, final check-ups. Laptop-check, one bag of clothes that look roughly the same, but in a cool way-check, one bag of ridiculously awesome stuff like his katana and a few jars of dead stuff-check, casual everyday backpack that was practically empty-check, and most importantly, the shades-always a check and always god damn rad as hell. Dave thought to himself while he got all the stuff out of the trunk of the cab.

The straps of the two heavy bags supported by each of his shoulders were digging painfully into them, but the blond ignored it, walking the short distance across the street to his college. The strap, along with the fabric of Dave's shirt was definitely going to leave marks on his shoulders. Though, his face remained expressionless through the burning while his hands were loosely holding the ends of the straps. It would take a lot more than that for him to break his cool.

There was really almost a cliché setting around the place: the perfectly mowed, sickly green lawn with a few trees to make it look more like nature and not like a mini golf field, where pretty much everything was made from plastic, those motivational posters on the nearby stands with things like 'anything is possible if you believe in yourself' written on them, a few older students walking along in their representative college T-shirts and caps giving out flyers, smiling at everyone and everything as if they had a scorpion shoved up their ass. John would love this place, Dave thought.

"Would you hurry the fuck up, I'm melting over here!" Karkat shouted impatiently waiting near the entrance of the huge building. He kept tapping his foot as a nervous tick and moving his dark hair out of the way so it wouldn't stick to his face.

"Yeah, because screaming will help you cool down." Dave replied walking in the same regular pace that was not too slow or too fast, just right. Karkat sighed with an unnecessary eye roll, swiping away a lock of hair that fell back on his face

"Just go get your god damn papers sorted, I'll take your disgusting fucking bags to our room." He liked to emphasize his swear words usually by scrunching up his face a bit to show that yes, he was indeed disgusted by those bags.

"I love it when you spoil me like that babe." Dave said curling up the corner of his mouth in a barely visible smirk as they were walking in the building. Karkat stopped in his tracks like he was just stung and turned around slowly

"The fuck did you just call me you shitstick?" he asked narrowing his eyes, almost snarling at him in a way that was supposed to look threatening but really didn't.

"You know, your face can stick like that if you're not careful." Dave said ignoring the question and pointing to his face which was almost comically fuming right now.

"Do you wanna sleep in the fucking hallway tonight?"

"Oh, don't be like that babe." He replied with the same smirk on his face completely unfazed by Karkat's famous 'shocked/disgusted and about to go on a murder spree' face. He was gonna love living with this guy, he could feel it.

"If you don't stop calling me that, I'll piss in these bags, you got that asshole?" he threatened raising his eyebrows

"Don't you fucking dare touch my stuff." Dave's smirk disappeared in an instant. He had the tendency to pour out his words in a quick yet articulate manner when he was angry, like he couldn't hold the words in.

"Then stop calling me 'babe.'"

"Fine." Dave sighed with a defeated slump of shoulders "I'll meet you in our new room in a few."

"Oh actually..." Karkat started saying and Dave stopped in his tracks watching as his roommate was struggling with saying something "I was kinda planning on going around campus and meeting with a few people I know…" he started to explain throwing in an eye roll or a sigh to make it seem like he didn't really care about the things he was saying

"Dude if you wanna go out, you don't need my permission." Dave interrupted him "You're free as a fucking bird, that's what college life is all about." Though, Karkat was giving him a wide-eyed expression

"I didn't ask for a fucking lesson in philosophy. If you had let me finish, I'd have offered you to come with me and meet some people you douche."

"Oh, yeah sure that sounds pretty cool." Dave shrugged while Karkat let out a frustrated groan

"Just don't embarrass me in front of them; they're a year older than us so just be fucking cool for once."

"Me? Bro, do you see me sweatin' in this heat? Not a chance yo, 'cause I'm cool like this sick ass beat…" Dave started an unexpected improv while Karkat stared at him with the most horrified expression

"Oh my god" was all that he could mutter under his breath as Dave went on

"You gotta let it go, make a note I'm chill like the pill. Smooth as ice like Mr Bond with a license to kill." Dave finished with a small satisfied smile on his face

"Sweet Jesus do you ever shut up?!" Karkat asked incredulously almost shouting. "Just don't even speak ever, oh god." He gave Dave a disgusted look and turned to head off to their room, while Dave's smile grew bigger

"So if 'babe' is off the table, I can still call you honey bunny right?" he called after him and saw as Karkat once again stopped in his tracks just to shake his head as if Dave was an imbecile, purely for the dramatic effect.

"Well I gotta call ya something." Dave shrugged innocently as Karkat stormed off loudly and quickly.

Things went quicker in the office than he had expected. All he had to do was open his mouth and say the words 'campus' 'freshman' and 'roommate' and the old lady behind the desk gave him a form to fill out not even lifting her head from her tasks.

Dave initially planned on staying in his room all day, just to chill and get used to his new temporary home, maybe mix a beat or two on his sweet ass turntables. Those thoughts had been making camp in his head all day. The images like the small yet airy room with better acoustics than his previous room, a place for all his stuff, a comfy bed, and for once some cool people living nearby, preferably, with a few gorgeous not too cocky and perfectly dateable chicks living just across the hall. Of course that was far fetching it, but Dave could dream.

He had so long to think about it, he was actually waiting until he got to be alone with his ill beats and maybe a few beers like he would be waiting for a good, deserved nap after a tiring day. But nevertheless, he met up with Karkat no less than five minutes later.

The day was too warm for his taste. His shades kept slipping off his sweaty nose, but Dave refused to take them off.

Karkat led him around half of the campus continuously mumbling about the hellish weather and how 'bathing in fucking lava would be pretty refreshing in comparison'. Dave tuned out most of it and looked around the place he would be spending four years at, feeling little regret about leaving his home. Dave never really gave it much thought, he just assumed that he was just cool like that, he could adapt to new things like a god damn chameleon. But like a really awesome and smooth chameleon who could pick up girls and make some sick rhymes too.

They approached a group of four other students who were all lying on a big blanket continuously laughing. Though, as Dave and Karkat got closer, and Dave could see them better, he realized that all the cackling was coming from only one particularly loud girl with short, mousy hair and bright red shades.

Then there was another dark haired girl with a long floral skirt lying on her stomach, peacefully reading some book and seemingly ignoring the loud girl. Dave already admired her ability to not give a fuck.

Near her was a scrawny looking guy with small, round glasses and a worried look etched on his face as he was sitting cross legged and wildly flipping pages of a text book in search for something.

And lastly there was another guy with possibly the messiest hair he had ever seen, who was the only one paying attention to what the loud girl was doing by nodding his head in agreement and smiling non-stop. He looked like the oldest even though he and his other three friends were all in the same year. It was probably his unshaved beard and sunken eyes that were forming this weird vibe around him, which gave Dave a bad feeling.

Before they could get at a speaking distance with them, the loud girl suddenly stopped her rambling and raised her head swiftly like a dog when it hears the word 'treats!' Dave could swear to John's non-ironic love for Nic Cage that he saw her slightly sniff the air around her, before a grin spread across her face and she flung herself at their direction

"Karkat!" she exclaimed jumping into his arms with all the grace of Bambi on ice.

"Hey get the fuck off me you freak!" Karkat started struggling but she seemed to have a strong grip for a short and fragile looking girl. "Get your filthy hands off of me you clingy turd fly!"

"You haven't changed one bit." She said letting go with a bit of disappointment in her tone. The rest of the group greeted him less enthusiastically than the loud girl

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Karkat started ranting. "Can't you act like a regular non-sociopathic person for once? The concept of personal fucking space must not be that familiar to you. It's something you do not cross! If I could I'd probably extend mine to the size of god damn Texas and have barbed wire and armies of zombies protecting it and even then you'd-"

"Hey I'm sure we're all thrilled to hear the ending of that story," the loud girl interrupted him putting her hands on his shoulders "but are you going to introduce us to your friend?" she said motioning to Dave. The entire group's eyes suddenly turned to the blond like he had appeared just now.

Even if Dave was overwhelmed by this sudden attention no one would know since his eyes were shielded and his face was carved into a constant mask of coolness.

"Fine." Karkat sighed, slumping his shoulders, agitated that his rant was interrupted "Guys this is my new roommate Dave." He said in a bored tone stepping back. Dave responded with a casual "yo" directed to everyone and no one in particular at the same time.

"Dave this is Terezi" he said with an exasperated sigh and an eye roll pointing to the loud girl "Kanaya, Sollux and Gamzee."

Dave was about to respond but felt someone take hold of his arm. The loud girl was all up in his sweet personal space suddenly, touching the fabric of his shirt, his hair and his shade-oh hell no.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked stepping back out of her reach. The loud girl frowned

"Getting to know you silly!"

"Can't you do that without climbing on me? Or is this some messed up way of feeling me up. In which case I'm flattered, but lady I don't even know you or-"

"I wasn't trying to feel you up!" she said stepping back turning bright red

"I see that you neglected to inform Dave that Terezi is blind." The other girl, Kanaya said calmly to Karkat with a hint of… it was hard for Dave to name it. Was it slight sarcasm?

"It's not my fucking job to tell him your boring ass life stories." Karkat snapped back and then turned to Dave "But yeah you should probably know that she is blind, so she operates mostly by touch and hearing."

"Holy shit, you don't say." Dave replied in an even tone. Dave was embarrassed, but yet again it was impossible for the others to see it "Sorry for freaking you out like that." He said turning to Terezi "But don't ever touch my shades again, that's not alright."

"Fine fine Mr. cool guy." She replied in a mocking tone.

"So, Dave" Kanaya sat up straight, interested in him "how are you liking Florida? What are you going to study here?"

"Oh god Kanaya leave him alone or at least start with the most important question, how the hell did Karkat talk you into being roommates with him? Did he bribe you?" the specky guy, Sollux, asked closing the book but still tapping on the edge of it nervously, while Terezi laid out another blanket for the both of them to sit on.

Karkat was about to snap back at him, but Dave started talking over him

"Yeah sorta, he's gonna repay me in sexual favors."

"If you two don't shut the fuck up about this, I will not only piss in those bags, but go out, eat some hot, spicy Mexican food and shit in them as well." Karkat said quickly before anyone else cut him off

Meanwhile, Sollux tugged on Terezi's sleeve suddenly and said in a hushed voice

"Ten bucks says those two won't last living together longer than Gamzee and Tavros."

"You're on." she whispered back with a challenging look on her face. In the meantime Dave noticed that the Gamzee guy wasn't even paying attention to anything around him, even though the deal was made literally right in front of him. Was he maybe deaf? Dave thought and hoped to god he wasn't going to start sniffing him too.

Gamzee just kept rocking back and forth slowly, humming quietly in a high pitched tone making his voice sort of break and sound uneven. Dave was pretty confused until he saw the half burnt joint in his hand.

"Holy cockstorm balls, Gamzee and Tavros are living together now?" Karkat exclaimed surprised…well not really it was more of a sarcastic surprise "Those two stoned ass weirdoes deserve each other I guess."

"Yes, Gamzee forgot that dorms are mostly for first years like you guys and ended up renting the first apartment available." Kanaya explained matter-of-factly "and if you are suggesting that they are now living together as a couple, I'm afraid this is where you're wrong." Her speaking manner resembled a talking text-book. She and Rose would probably get along.

Terezi and Sollux were talking to each other about the bet probably, while Gamzee hadn't stopped humming. He was now humming a really high pitched note in short intervals.

"Who the fuck even cares? It's easier to keep track of fly farts than your relationships." Karkat remarked in a truly angry tone this time and looked away right after.

Sweat was forming on Dave's forehead uncomfortably, and the humming just wouldn't stop.

"So Dave, what are you going to study?" Kanaya asked again

"Uh yeah, right" he was trying to concentrate through the heat, but the humming seemed to have been getting louder and louder "So I'm gonna be all up in the-" the note went half a tone higher "music business like producing and mixing cause I can make some sick ass rhymes yo."

He could feel the blood pumping through the veins in his temples and his heart beat echoing in his ear drums loudly

"So, that hideous thing that you said to me earlier was supposed to be an example of that you dipping dick spack? That horrible set of words that could make an onion cry was supposed to be your rhymes?" Karkat asked outraged.

It wouldn't stop it just wouldn't.

"Hey don't go on dissing my rhymes-" it wouldn't stop. Dave's finger twitched "-they're every bit as sweet as-" why wouldn't he just shut the fuck up "as-uh-" a bead of sweat dropped down from Dave's nose "Could you fucking knock it off?!" he snapped in Gamzee's direction above his usual tone of voice. The rest of the group went quiet and stared at him with wide eyes. Shit, that was so not cool.

The only one who didn't see the significance in Dave's little outburst was Karkat and thank god for Dave he was the one who saved him from the heavy silence that settled in between the group.

"Thank fuck you finally said something sensible." He replied loudly and then turned to Gamzee "Has anyone ever told you your voice sounds as beautiful as my nails being dragged across a fucking chalkboard?" Dave's heartbeat was going back to normal, though, he was still sweating.

"Thank you, man." Gamzee replied after a pause looking sincerely thankful for the insult. His movements were slow, uncoordinated, giving the impression of a mental patient "You always were a nice motherfucker." He said emphasizing the word 'motherfucker' with such fondness as if it were a sweet nickname.

"That wasn't a compliment you pre-developed tool!" Karkat said outraged that his words were taken the wrong way.

But then again, Dave thought, what kind of idiot could mistake that for a compliment? Unless Gamzee was doing this on purpose to drive Karkat up the wall. That would actually be pretty damn funny. However, that type of ironic depth seemed unfitting for a guy who looked like someone who could happily shit his pants.

"Hey lay off of him." Terezi piped up with an annoyed look

"Oh sure, his privacy you respect." He bit back harshly and Terezi visibly turned her back on him offended. In the mean time Gamzee turned his sleepy, red eyes on Dave

"I'm sorry man, I was just trying to get into my zone y'know?" Gamzee explained with his smile still present on his face. Seriously. It never left his face. "I should've realized that a poetic soul like yours would be more sensitive and emotionally unstab-"

"Hold on there, bubba." Dave suddenly interrupted "what poetic soul are you blabbering about?" he asked getting more and more confused by this guy. Gamzee looked taken aback like it was a ridiculous question, yet the smile never left his face, it just wasn't as wide.

"You take the simple words and you make miracles out of them by making them rhyme and giving them meaning, don't you?" he asked with childish wonder after taking another smoke

"Yeah sure, whatever man, but-" Dave started quickly, but Gamzee got ahead of him

"So you're a poet."

"It's called rapping you dick, I ain't no-" but Gamzee carried on as if Dave wasn't even there while Terezi was barely holding in her laughter

"There's even a saying: one does what one is, one becomes what one does." Gamzee starred off into the distance dreamily nodding to himself

"What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?" Dave said not really asking. Sollux sighed turning to Dave

"Yeah Gamzee studies philosophy." As if that was an obvious, self-explanatory reason for his behavior.

"Whatever man, I'm not a poet, I'm a rapper. I make songs not poems." Dave said and ruled out Gamzee as someone he didn't like.

"It's okay Dave, don't mind Gamzee." Terezi said after calming down "I actually know of this underground bar where you could show off your skills." She said seriously

"That would be dope." Dave said excitedly. Of course for him, expressing excitement meant raising his eyebrows a little bit above the top of his shades.

"Cool, if I remember correctly, they have poetry nights every Tuesday." Terezi carried on and started laughing, barely getting through saying the last word. Dave sighed barely visibly and contemplated adding her to the list as well.

Sollux joined in with quiet snickers that he was trying to hide while Kanaya rolled her eyes going back to her book.

"For the love of god stop it." Karkat chimed in finally, putting his face into his hand. He couldn't really keep quiet for long. "The jokes are almost as bad as your mother's upbringing skills." He said looking at Terezi and Gamzee. The later was already gone in his world though. His gaze was fixed on nothing, the hand holding the nearly burnt joint dropped down and Kanaya cautiously took it out of his hand.

"Oh my god, are you actually defending Dave?" Terezi exclaimed over dramatically, their previous quarrel suddenly forgotten.

"I'm not defending anyone!" Karkat was quick to correct. However, before Terezi could reply with an all-knowing look Kanaya interrupted their chat

"I don't mean to interrupt, but if you remember we have to get to the library on time." she said to the rest of them, nudging Gamzee slightly so he'd 'wake up'.

"But isn't that only at 3pm?" Terezi asked reluctant to get up and leave the conversation.

"Yeah but I don't have a watch on me. Hey Gamzee, you know what time it is?" Kanaya asked already putting her book in her bag

"A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure." He answered thoughtfully

"Dude, for once in your life can you just answer 'I don't know'?" Sollux asked a bit annoyed but nevertheless all of them were getting up and soon Karkat reluctantly waved them off as they left for the building far on the right.

"You've got some weird ass friends dude." Dave remarked once they started heading to their dorm

"Hey!" Karkat exclaimed defensively "I mean sure they're annoying and fucking psycho. I mean I really wouldn't be surprised if Terezi had killed someone in the past, but-" Karkat was once again having trouble phrasing his thoughts "Still, they are probably the only ones who are sometimes, more or less tolerable to be around." He said stuffing his hands into his pockets

"That was truly the most beautiful declaration of love I've ever heard." Dave said smirking once again

"It's not a declaration of anything you butt trumpet!" Karkat replied shoving him in the shoulder slightly

"It could be a declaration of love or independence, but don't fool yourself man, when your caring is reaching transcendence. You shout and you scowl like you're craving your vengeance, then you frown and you pout when you're not in attendance." Dave dropped that beat like a hot potato

"Fuck that shit, you're walking home alone." Karkat said with a disgusted look as he took the other path that lead…fuck knows where, this was Dave's first day here how the fuck would he know that.

"But you can't deny our love!" Dave managed to shout across the entire campus yard to Karkat and saw him raise a middle finger high up in the air for him to see


	2. The Justin Timberlake of Campus

3 weeks later

Studying had just begun for Dave, and unlike the dreaded years of high school, he was pretty stoked to start learning about music and getting into the mixing business. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, but instant recognition and spending his days perfecting his sick beat making skills were definitely there somewhere. But those mostly unrealistic expectations were soon crumbled on his very first day.

His very first lecture was history, which was odd for Dave. What sort of history could there be? Well it turned out there was a lot of it. The lecturer talked about their study plan throughout most of the first lecture and then began teaching them on the history of classical music. And as it turned out, Dave wouldn't be able to learn what he wanted to in the first year at all. All of the subjects were more general, setting the base of their musical knowledge before they move on to specific studies next year. Dave would be lying if he said he hadn't heard something about that, but his mind usually tended to zone out and ignore all the boring stuff. Because hey did you know that a shit tone of years ago there was some douche named Bach or someone with a short middle name like 'van', who made even more boring music? Fascinating.

Though, it seemed that he was the only one in the class who was surprised at this turn of their study plan. It was almost as if like everyone else actually took the time to read their schedule online before the studies began. Fucking losers.

So far he didn't see anyone in his class that would be worth hanging out with. Except for maybe this girl who sat at the front, her name was Aradia if Dave remembered right, and another guy named Cronus. Those two seemed to know what they were doing and what the lecturer was talking about.

Another surprise for Dave was his room. It wasn't anything that he had expected it to be. Dave could barely call that a room, more like a walk-in closet by the size of it. It was one of the few rooms on campus for only two people. The wallpapers were dark, faded and were starting to peel off at the edges, there was a single chair standing in the middle of the room and a slightly larger than average nightstand by the window that was supposed to serve as a desk. On the left was their bunk bed, which's stability was quite questionable. Karkat immediately called the top bed his own to which Dave responded by making a handful of gay sex related jokes.

And to top it all off, they had a constant visitor in their dorm. While Dave didn't mind hanging out with Karkat's friends every other day or so, hedid mind when Gamzee was basically always present in their room. He had the nerve to lie on his bed, bring the stench of weed with him and smile like a god damn creep every time he laid his eyes on him.

Gamzee proclaimed that he had grown attached to living in this dorm (his room used to be a few doors away from theirs) and that he felt a strong emotional and spiritual attachment to it or whatever, that he wasn't quite ready to leave behind yet.

At least that was what Dave managed to catch before Gamzee started talking in quotes again, something about 'Before I travelled my road, I was my road', that was when he zoned out and got back to studying. All the while Dave tried to keep calm, he was pretty damn embarrassed about his little outburst on his first day and he sure as hell didn't want that to happen again.

Karkat wasn't too happy about these visits either. But the clown was immune to Karkat's threats and insults and reacted only if he started to use force and physically push him out of the room.

Well at least there was one good thing about this, Dave thought. The Gamzee thing was probably the only thing that he and Karkat agreed on, which made it quite easy to live with him. It's true what they say, that a common hate brings two people together. In this case, the hate for Gamzee made Karkat forget that he hated Dave as well, and most importantly it also helped Dave keep himself chill.

Today however, was one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong and generally suck for Dave. He barely got any sleep due to a party happening next door, he had history lectures again and got assigned his very first project that was due next week. It was going to be a pain in his ass. He got back to his dorm exhausted and pissed off at himself and wanted to just flop down on his bed and take a long nap. But, there was a mop of messy jet black hair already occupying his bed. It almost seemed that Gamzee didn't even go to lectures at all and existed purely to stay in their room and annoy Dave.

"Leave, Gamzee." Dave said firmly, dropping his bag by the bed and taking a seat on the chair.

"I'm not ready, not just yet." He replied, slowly opening his eyes and hollowing his cheeks against the cigarette in his mouth.

"I don't fucking care." He said flatly, being careful about not raising his tone too much "I've been busting my ass in lectures all day and I deserve that bed so get your stinky ass off of it."

"This bed isn't that small, I'm sure we can share." Gamzee suggested, smiling widely and looking up at him "I can tuck you in, make sure you get a pleasant motherfucking nap." The words were rolling off lazily from his mouth as if to rub it in Dave's face just how relaxed and comfortable he was.

It was clear that Gamzee wasn't going to leave until he was pulled from the bed, but Dave didn't have the energy nor the will power to do that. He briefly considered napping on Karkat's bed, but realized he couldn't fall asleep with that asshole there anyway. Dave watched as Gamzee flicked off the ash from his cig on their floor and momentarily glanced at his katana by the other side of the bed. One day Dave thought bitterly. He turned to his desk where he could start working on his project instead.

"Do you ever wonder if there's a god out there?" Gamzee asked after a minute of silence as Dave turned on his laptop and started gathering his notes.

Dave closed his eyes and counted to five.

"Maybe there isn't a higher power after all, 'cause I mean there's this saying that there's no real difference between the grass and the man who mows it." Gamzee thought out loud "But then again, who is responsible for the miracles that we witness every day? Like, just this morning when I woke up I really wanted to smoke a joint." Well gee isn't that surprising. "And there was exactly one roll left, it was just meant to be. Miracles." He said once again shaking his head with a smile, quieting down. Dave heaved a sigh of relief and started closely reading his notes and comparing them with the information online.

"When you think about it," Gamzee started after two minutes of silence "every single one of us is a miracle, so perhaps everyone is also a god-"

"Oh my god shut the fuck up." Dave replied. His voice shook a bit from the frustration. Well, there went his ignore-his-existence plan.

"You seem a little under the blue today, Dave." Gamzee noted staring up at him from his heavy eyelids. Dave just shot him a glare, but realized it wasn't really visible because of his shades. God damn it.

"So what is it?" Gamzee asked "Maybe you just need a word of wisdom to set your mind at peace." He offered while rubbing his hand on Dave's knee in a supposedly comforting way, but it was just creepy to be honest. Dave was already used to the constant invasion of his personal space though. He hung out with Terezi often after all.

Dave knew Gamzee probably didn't give a shit about how he felt and that he was just fishing for more material to tease him on. Nonetheless, he still opened his mouth.

"College just doesn't make sense to me." he said quietly feeling incredibly tired all of a sudden. Gamzee nodded all knowingly as if he understood exactly what he was talking about, which of course, he didn't.

"I too was confused about life when I first came here." He said like he was talking about a distant past and not something that happened last year. "But we have to choose the right path and embrace it. And yours, Dave, is one of a poet."

"For the last fucking time I'm not a po-"

"And as our brother Confucius said, we have to decide: to be or not to be, that is the motherfucking question." He finished with a satisfied smile, taking a drag and blowing out thick smoke slowly, savoring it.

"That was Hamlet you nimbrod clown." Dave said with a sigh.

"Whoa, don't force your beliefs on me."

Dave's hand started shaking slightly, it's like everything he said made his blood boil and not in the good, hot type of way. He didn't know what made him think he could stand being around this guy.

"Okay nut brain let's get something clear." Dave said barely controlling his tone of voice. He closed his laptop swiftly and loudly. The sharp sound got Gamzee's attention and he lifted his head a bit looking at Dave with curious eyes.

"I don't like you." he said flatly. "I'm about two seconds away from taking my katana and giving you a haircut." He was about to start visibly shaking from the fury. "I don't give a shit how you feel about this room, you have your own place now. Go have your emotional bond there, piss on it, mark it yours I don't fucking care just leave us alone." He poured out all in one breath while Gamzee stared at him with an unreadable expression.

Dave didn't have the patience to wait for him to respond and he didn't really want to hear what he had to say anyway. So, Dave stormed out of the room and headed for the library. He passed Karkat along the hallway and gave him a curt nod while Karkat narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him, but said nothing. He was cool like that. Dave turned on the corner, but still heard Karkat screaming upon opening the door to their room

"You do not live here you fungus!"

…

The blond finally managed to relax and get his shit back together while walking across campus to the library. It was chillier that day, the autumn wind made the ones still wearing tee's and shorts shiver slightly. Although, the change in the weather didn't really change the fact that Dave was wearing the same thing that he was wearing when he had first arrived here. You'd think he was just lazy and didn't do his laundry. But he just had a lot of the exact same clothes.

Dave now realized that Gamzee was doing this just to tease him and drive him up the wall on purpose like he did with Karkat. Gamzee quickly discovered the things that made Dave tick and started using it against him. It was the oldest trick in the book and frankly it was kinda lame. It was almost as lame as Egbert's pranks. This was the kind of immature crap that you'd expect from a snotty five year old (which was strangely an accurate description of the asshole) who thinks that by saying the opposite of everything you do will get under your skin.

But the worst part was that it worked. God he hated that clown.

His university had a very large library that was open 24/7. Dave wasn't a big fan of books, and honestly this would be the last place where you would see someone as awesome and rad as Dave being. But with the current situation, he really wouldn't mind staying here for a few weeks, tucking himself in with a few thick dictionaries.

This was the first time in a few weeks that Dave didn't play it cool, but it was okay, he was okay, it didn't get to him at all. In fact, he wasn't even going to think about it anymore. He thought as he flipped the pages of a useful book about symphonic orchestras and not thinking about punching anyone. That would be ridiculous.

His peace didn't last for long though. Dave heard someone approaching him at the back of the library with a happy skip in their step that could belong to only one person he knew.

The third-year curly haired blonde with a simple, yet tight fitted outfit, that got the attention of half of the library, stopped right in front of his table. She smiled widely and messed the top of Dave's hair playfully.

"Hey Davey, how's my favorite cousin doing?" he pulled his head back instinctively, but didn't bother to fix his hair.

"Fucking sweet and so chill. Like I'm just so chill. I'm like a cone of frosty caramel flavored ice cream with fucking sprinkles on top in a room full of flaming meat balls."

Roxy looked him over with a thoughtful expression

"You really are good with words." She took a seat next to him and leaned in closer as if telling a secret "Rumor has it that you've given up your music career to become a p-"

"If that sentence ends with the word poet, I swear to god I will smack you across the face with a dead fish." Dave poured out in less than three seconds.

"Whoa what's with the tight ass attitude, Strider?" she asked taken aback, fixing the bright pink clip in her hair. "People are starting to know who you are, this is good!" she said brightly

"That's not how people were supposed to know who I am." Dave sighed annoyed "All I'm sayin' is, I don't wanna be known as the sensitive douche like Poe or young Justin Timberlake y'know? I gotta be the one who's bringing sexy back, not crying rivers."

Roxy put a comforting hand on his shoulder

"It's okay Davey, I'm sure no one thinks that you're a denim wearing pop star from the 90's. Actually…" she said as an idea hit her "During the party next week I can introduce you to new awesome people and get you some decent friends." Dave almost forgot that Roxy was known and loved by almost everyone here. She was like the Beyonce of this campus.

"That's a sweet motherfucking offer. It would be hella cool to get to know some people." Dave thought out loud.

"Of course it will be! I'll talk you up to some people while everyone's getting drunk and before you know it, you'll be the star of the party." She said gleefully thinking over her plan.

"That's the best motherfucking plan I've ever heard." Dave remarked. His mood went up considerably, not that anyone could notice it though. Every year there's a party held at the beginning of the year to welcome freshmen and supposedly it's one of the wildest parties. Dave wasn't a big drinker, but he loved being there when shit went down.

"Oh god I'm so excited I can't wait for it." She squealed excitedly. "It will be good to get you out of Terezi's little circle too." Roxy added as an afterthought

"Nah, I don't mind them. They're pretty okay I guess."

"Really?" Roxy asked narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, they're all kinda cool once you get passed the sense that they want to murder you." Dave shrugged while Roxy leaned back on the wall and closed her eyes thinking.

"Well if you say so. Still, Terezi is a bit of a psycho." she began counting them down on her fingers. "Despite being the best in his class, there's a reason why people call Sollux 'two-face', and while Kanaya is hot and not a bad kisser she's like really boring." She said rolling her eyes "So it'll be good to get you to hang out with someone who's both cool and emotionally stable." She looked at him all-knowingly. "Speaking of emotional instability, where's Karkitty?" she asked sitting upright.

"He's probably repainting our room with Makara's blood." The thought of drawing blood from that creep was strangely endearing and Dave almost smiled.

"Oh man, he's still not leaving your room?" Roxy asked sympathetically "Oh shit my break is almost over, gotta fly." She panicked looking at her phone and getting up from the chair "Just don't hurt Gamzee too much okay? 'Cause I can't hook you up with people if you're not at the party." She said like it was obvious.

"Uhm, what?" Dave asked confused. What did that asshole had to do with anything?

"I'm saying don't get banned from entering the party." Roxy explained stopping at the end of the table

"Why would hurting Gamzee get me banned?" he asked still not seeing the connection. For a cool guy, Dave wasn't that sharp.

"Cause he's hosting the party, dumbass." Roxy rolled her eyes before ruffling his hair one last time and dashing out of the library. The last conversation Dave had with him flashed quickly across his mind. Well shit.


End file.
